A Positive Blood

I talked to my transplant coordinator earlier this week. She said that my status is back on (since I was placed on hold after having my gall bladder removed). I also asked her to verify my blood type, and she said that I am A POSITIVE.

I sent an e-mail to the remaining three potential donors in the Dallas area that had already had their blood work completed. I asked them to contact the transplant coordinator to set up testing appointments. I am hoping that she will be able to set up testing for all three of them so that we can find a match more quickly, but who knows. She may still want to do them one at a time.

I did not have a great treatment on Saturday. The machine ran slowly, and the charge nurse came by and told me I should consider moving up to the 15 gauge needles. I told her I would think about it. I went home at my dry weight (70.5 kg), but did not feel good with a very low blood pressure and a slight temperature. I stayed up for about two or three hours after my treatment waiting on my temp and pressure to even out. We ended up going to bed late, but at least we did not have to take a trip to the emergency room.

Tuesday, I did go ahead and use the 15-gauge needles. I have been using the 17-gauge needles for almost three weeks. I was hoping my fistula would behave before moving up, but the machine does not seem to like the smaller needles with my vein. The 15-gauge treatment went well. I had them only take me down to 71.0 kg, so I think that helped me feel better. I have also stopped taking one of my blood pressure medications to see if I can get my blood pressure to even out a bit. I guess I will find out at tonight’s treatment.

So, I am on 15-gauge needles now, which is good. The machine ran at 350 ml/min on Tuesday, and I think they are going to try the full 400 ml/min today. 400 is the rate that they prefer to go. I think the machine can run faster, but they don’t normally do that.

I have to ask for my thyroid function test results today so that I can send them to my endocrinologist. I have an appointment with him on Monday, and I’d like it to be the last one I have. I think my function has leveled out (according to my results) so I should not need to see him anymore.

Please pray for the potential kidney donors. Pray that their tests will be scheduled easily and that they right person will be found to be a donor. Thanks for coming by!

After My Vacation

Hello everyone. I realize that my last post was eight days ago, but I have not been around much. Last weekend, Jenny and I took a short trip to Arlington to celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary. We had a good time, but I did not do any computing while we were gone, so I am a little behind on my blog. I have several updates to make, and hopefully I will not forget any of them.

I went to the nephrologist’s office after work on Friday, July 14. He took out the chest catheter and bandaged me up. This catheter had been in since March 24 (almost four months). They used it off and on, and even cleaned it out once. I am glad to be finally rid of it. I can now take showers (like a normal person) and sleep on my stomach again.

Like I said, we went out of town over the weekend. I had a dialysis treatment on Saturday, which wasn’t all that bad. The technician that I got on Tuesday was new (to me). Since I have not had a lot of success recently with my needle sticks, I figured it would be okay to let someone different have a shot at my arm and see if maybe she was better at sticking me. She was not. She had to go and get another technician to stick the arterial side of my access. I don’t think it was her problem. I have determined that there is only really one or two technicians that can consistently find my arterial access.

Saturday’s treatment had lots of struggles. So did Tuesday this week. I got a decent stick, but the machine didn’t seem to like it. According to the technicians, there is not quite enough stickable area on the fistula. They have to stay one inch away from the surgical site (on both ends) and try to keep the needles from being too close together. This is difficult, as the entire fistula is only about 4 or 5 inches long. It is also slightly curved, which leaves less spots in which to insert the needles. Fortunately, someone has been able to find a spot to go in each treatment so that I can be dialyzed.

Thursday’s treatment went fairly well. I got a quick, easy stick, and the machine ran at 300 ml/min for most of the treatment (and at 290 ml/min the rest of the time). My thought is that if I can get six good treatments in a row (no machine problems, and little to no sticking problems) that I will move from 17- to 16-gauge needles. The larger needles give a better treatment, but I do not want to try and use something larger until I can get the little needles to work properly.

In other news, I have been working with the financial department at Baylor to figure out who is going to pay for my father’s transplant evaluation. It turns out that the paperwork was initially misfiled, but that the current balance is $0. This is good news, and it means that I can contact my other donors and get them started. So, if you see my name pop up on your caller ID, then it’s time. I haven’t decided if I am going to do one donor, or have all three of the people that live in town and completed their paperwork to go at the same time. I might try that, just to confuse everyone. It should be fun.

Aside from that, I have nothing too interesting to report. I have an appointment with the endocrinologist on July 31. I don’t think I will have to go back to see him after that. My TSH levels have been normal for nearly a year now, so I think my thyroid problems have subsided. It would be nice to have one less doctor to keep up with. Maybe I should try and schedule a neurology appointment and get rid of her, as well. I haven’t had any stroke problems in over a year, and maybe she can reduce some of the medications she prescribed. I’ll have to get on that one.

I have a few prayer requests for you to consider:

• Pray that the technician at dialysis will get a good stick that works well for the next several treatments(by works well, I want the machine to run at 300 ml/min and to not have arterial alarms caused by being unable to pull my blood)


• Pray that we will find the right person with the right kidney at the right time to be a donor for me

I am currently searching my records to find out what my blood type is. When I get it, I will let you know. I have had many people as me about this, and I wanted to be able to give the right answer.

Monthly Labs - July 2006

It is time, once again, for Nathan's Monthly Lab report. Yes, that's right folks, about this time every month, I get a copy of my lab reports from the dialysis clinic and I share them with you. So, sit back and relax, the fun is about to begin.

• Albumin - 4.7 (Goal is 3.8 to 4.5)
• enPCR - no recent value available
• eKdrt/V - no recent value available
• Potassium - 3.9 (Goal is 3.5 to 6.0)
  Your potassium leve is normal.
  You are doing a good job with the potassium in your diet.
• Corrected Calcium - 10.0 (Goal is 8.4 to 9.5)
  Your corrected calcium is high
  Check with your doctor
• Glucose - no recent value available
• Phosphorus - 3.3 (Goal is 3.5 to 5.5)
  Your phosphorus is low
  Your dietician will discuss your food choices
• Cholesterol - no recent value available
• Hemoglobin A1C - 5.2 (Goal is less than 7.5)
  Your hemoglobin A1C is well controlled
  This means that your average glucose (blood sugar) has been normal for the last 3 months. Good job!
• Hemoglobin - 11.0 (Goal is 11.0 to 12.0)
  You hemoglobin is normal
  Your anemia is under control
• Average Fluid Weight Gain - 2.02 kg or 2.9% (Goal is 3-5% of dry weight unless you have signs and symptoms of fluid overload).
  This is acceptable.

So, this month's report was filled with good news. For one, my Phosphorus went down from 7.5 in May, to 5.4 in June, to 3.3 in July. The dietitian said that I should adjust my phosphorus binders to try and get my number back up into the normal range. I'll see if I can figure out just the right amount to take to keep myself healthy. Taking a little bit less of the phosphorus binder will also help my calcium get back into the normal range (since the binders are basically calcium pills). As you can see, everything else is looking normal. My dry weight is 70.5 kg, at the moment, and I am thinking about having it raised to 71.0. I've had some dizziness and cramping the day after my treatment, and I think it might be fluid related.

I finally saw the nephrologist on Tuesday. I got myself scheduled for a Friday afternoon appointment to have the temp-cath in my chest removed. I will be glad to finally have those tubes out. Then I don't have to worry about it getting infected. I think the doctor had me confused with someone else when he talked to me. He asked how some other problems that I had never had were going, and I told him they were okay. I guess that's the problem with having one doctor cover 30 patients in one hour.

I talked to the insurance company this week, and they said that I needed to talk to the financial department at Baylor. I sent them my billing statement and the letter from the insurance company notifying me of payment rejection. The financial department is supposed to look over everything and see if they can figure out who is supposed to pay them. Plesae pray that this gets figured out quickly so that I can have more potential donors tested soon.

I have received many encouraging comments on the blog and direct e-mails. Thank you all for your prayers and your support. Keep posting comments and sending e-mails. I don't reply to each and every one, but they all give me a boost each time I read them.